> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.roboflow.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.roboflow.com/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration.md).

# Configuration

A default Inference server started with `inference server start` is tuned for local development: it listens on port 9001 over plain HTTP, accepts every input format, and enforces no authentication. The pages in this section cover what you change once the server moves past your laptop.

You do not need any of this to run your first model. Come back here when you want to expose the server to other machines, run it in production, pin its resource usage, or watch how it behaves under load.

## Tune the container

* [Docker Configuration Options](/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration/docker-configuration.md) - ports, CORS, worker counts, NMS defaults, model cache, and the Secure Gateway.
* [Inference Server Environment Variables](/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration/environment-variables.md) - the full reference for every variable the server reads, grouped by area.

## Harden the server

* [Securing a Self-Hosted Server](/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration/security.md) - network isolation, authentication, TLS, custom Python restrictions, and SSRF controls. Start here before exposing the server beyond localhost.
* [Serving Inference over HTTPS](/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration/https.md) - terminate TLS with your own certificate, use encrypted keys, and require mutual TLS.
* [Accepted Input Formats](/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration/input-formats.md) - which payload types the server accepts, and how to disable the riskier ones such as pickled numpy arrays and URL image fetching.

## Watch it run

* [Inference Server Telemetry](/deployment/self-hosted/inference-server/configuration/telemetry.md) - Prometheus metrics and Docker container statistics for a running server.

{% hint style="info" %}
Configuring the [Inference CLI and SDK](https://docs.roboflow.com/reference/environment-variables) is separate from configuring the server. The variables on these pages are read by the server process inside the container.
{% endhint %}